Jack Colback (now a free agent)

[Fenham Mag]

I'm completely unsure about Anita though, I've always wanted to see him get a decent stretch of games together in a settled side but it's never going to happen. He's obviously not a world beater either.

 

I rate him the same kind of player Guthrie with. The kind who is a 7/10 player. Not your main guy, but mostly solid, fairly accurate with passing and an ideal first back up.

 

Thing is though our club since he's been here have rarely had tactics and we have it's the horrible Stoke style of bash em up play which obviously for somebody less that 5 5 and weighs as much isn't exactly ideal.

 

In a passing team he'd be good, in a physical team he isn't. You'd never see him launch into tackles like Colback did today and whether you think that is a good or bad thing depends on you.

 

 

Anita doesn't deserve that praise. Guthrie was 10 x the player for us.

[Yorkie]

Him or Nolan in the team, who would you rather?

 

Nolan has about ten goals by this point, didn't he? There's no contest at all, really.

[Disco]

He doesn't have decent set pieces like, yes they're better than whoever floating it to the back post but that doesn't make them decent. For the most part they're shit, nowhere near enough pace/whip on them.

[Hanshithispantz]

Nolan would probably justify us isolating Ayoze up top and pinging 70 yarders at him tbh.

[TRon]

Him or Nolan in the team, who would you rather?

 

I was happy to see Nolan gone if only so we could move away from the lump it hump it football philosophy. Granted he's effective in that role, but there's a reason he's at West Ham not Liverpool.

[Guest TruToon94]

Nolan has lost it now but I'll be damned if we lie and say him, Barton and Carroll under the management of Hughton wasn't the best I've felt about the club since Sir Bobby left.

 

I'd take beating the Mackems 5-1 and actually having a go at every team regardless of stature than the souless shite we've had to endure for four years any day.

[Guest firetotheworks]

We all got very sick of Nolan because as a midfielder he was really rubbish and was often played there, but as a second striker his knack for doing the whole right place, right time thing was uncanny. That Championship season and the first half of the PL season was the last time that I felt really part of the club. The end of the 5th place finish was great in all honesty, but there was something really special about that team when (for me) Carroll was up front bullying defenders.

[Ronaldo]

He's never been a goal threat in his entire career up until the last 6 games.

 

It was a minor miracle he hadn't scored before then, though. He gets into the right areas and has a good shot on him with both feet. He's scored more PL goals than Anita and Tiote combined in that period alone.

[relámpago blanco]

He's never been a goal threat in his entire career up until the last 6 games.

 

It was a minor miracle he hadn't scored before then, though. He gets into the right areas and has a good shot on him with both feet. He's scored more PL goals than Anita and Tiote combined in that period alone.

Tiote has never been a threat and he disrupts the way we play. As for Anita he could work very well for us picking the ball up from the back 4, I would rather Abeid in that role though. If we are to play 433 it will work best with Abeid sitting, a daily disciplined Moussa and De jong.

[TRon]

He's never been a goal threat in his entire career up until the last 6 games.

 

It was a minor miracle he hadn't scored before then, though. He gets into the right areas and has a good shot on him with both feet. He's scored more PL goals than Anita and Tiote combined in that period alone.

 

If football was a turn based RPG game then no doubt Colback would be top dog. In open play though he ends up grabbing players by the arm to stop them getting away from him or hacking them down due to his lack of pace and athleticism. Tiote and Abeid offer far more as defensive midfielders and Sissoko offers far more as an attacking one. Colback is just a glorified set piece taker.

[Stifler]

He doesn't have decent set pieces like, yes they're better than whoever floating it to the back post but that doesn't make them decent. For the most part they're shit, nowhere near enough pace/whip on them.

In pre-season and at the start of the season his set pieces were decent. Since then though they have been shocking, in fact everyone taking our set pieces have been shocking. It's annoying knowing that a set piece is going to be wasted and actually be more of a danger to us defensively before it's even been taken.

[hithere]

 

Anita was a passenger too, though. At least Colback offers threat going forward.

 

The fact that he sneaks a goal here and there doesn't make up for the fact that he's a nothing player 95% of the time. You don't play him just because you hope he might get a goal at some point.

 

I think he's probably got more goals for Newcastle than he has in the rest of his career....

[Yorkie]

Good on him, tbh. It's obviously something he's worked on of that's the case. As long as he chips in with the odd goal he's more worthy of a place in the side than Anita.

[r0cafella]

I think it's a bit disingenuous to compare Anita and colback given Anita has never been  give  such a licence to get forward. They essentially play two different roles in the team.

[James]

A three man midfield in my opinion needs three components

 

A defensive midfielder, able to break up play, physically impose themselves in the game, and distribute the ball sensibly. The two players we have here are Tiote and Abeid, while Anita and Colback are some way short of fulfilling this role.

 

A central midfielder capable of driving the game forward and giving the attack a fresh impetus. This player can be quite hard to find, but we have one with Sissoko. Dyer was another example.

 

A more cautious central midfielder. This player should be able to support the DM, pass the ball around very effectively, and offer a late arriving goal threat.  Gary Speed is the perfect example. One of these CMs needs to be able to take a set piece too, so with the others available for this role it needs to be in this position.

 

So who gets this role, Anita or Colback?

 

The answer is neither are good enough. Give Abeid that role, flog Tiote and Anita and buy a much better DM and we would have a great midfield.

[Guest antz1uk]

you mention 3 components then go on to list 4/5 players for 2 roles,  (unless i've miss-read/Misunderstood)i have always liked the look of anita, but unfortunately as a cliche it may sound he just isn't physically up to it in this league, well at least while we have a coach who does not know how to get the best from technical players with ability, Anita is what i'd call pro active, while colback is reactive. currently given the options we have, soon will have, i'd have a midfield spine of Abeid, Sissohko and De Jong, with options from the bench of Tiote, Anita & colback, then a forward 3 of Cabella, Aarons & Perez

[Guest John Carvery]

I can't see any advantage for having Anita here. I think he needs to be sold to recoup some of the money and in regard for his own future. He has little to nothing to offer and has now had enough opportunity to do so. Unless he goes on a growth spurt followed by a long course of steroids he's going to be continually outplayed in this country.

[The College Dropout]

We'll not get any decent money for him.

[mozy]

Sissoko has always struggled when playing as a deeper CM, he really isn't a good defensive player at all. An Abeid-Sissoko-De Jong triumvirate has disaster written all over it.

[Disco]

Refuse to believe it'd be any worse than the shit we have at the moment, at least it'd be a bit more cohesive and dangerous going forward. I'd fancy my chances of outpacing/muscling Jolback or Anita off the ball.

[TRon]

Sissoko has always struggled when playing as a deeper CM, he really isn't a good defensive player at all. An Abeid-Sissoko-De Jong triumvirate has disaster written all over it.

 

Are you kidding? Abeid would be more than enough to take care of the defensive role, leaving Sissoko and De Jong free to provide some firepower.

[Guest Rent-A-Quote]

Sissoko has always struggled when playing as a deeper CM, he really isn't a good defensive player at all. An Abeid-Sissoko-De Jong triumvirate has disaster written all over it.

 

Finally, a post with a bit sense!

 

All these championship manager experts, say stuff like that yet don't realise the detrimental affect it would have. De Jong is a number 10 who's been playing as a striker in Holland as it's a bit easier. No no, get him in centre midfield. Nae bother. How long will his poor injury record last in there?

 

Abeid and Anita as the defensive two for me, Tiote and Colback are cowardly cloggers, where as the first two are ball players.

[Guest Rent-A-Quote]

Sissoko has always struggled when playing as a deeper CM, he really isn't a good defensive player at all. An Abeid-Sissoko-De Jong triumvirate has disaster written all over it.

 

Are you kidding? Abeid would be more than enough to take care of the defensive role, leaving Sissoko and De Jong free to provide some firepower.

 

Are you joking? One defensive midfielder with how poor our team is defensively?

[Lush Vlad]

I thought he was utter shite until the goal.  In fact, for the most part, I think he's been shite all season. 

 

Set pieces are always crap, runs around a lot, makes the odd good tackle and can usually pass it sideways fairly well.  He is just such a nothing player and is another, in a long list of distinctly average English centre midfielders, that are overrated by many for some unknown reason.  Obviously he was lucky to stay on the pitch as well. 

 

He has weighed in with 3 good goals for us now mind.  Something we are going to need if we persist with the 4-5---------------------------------------1 formation. 

[TRon]

Sissoko has always struggled when playing as a deeper CM, he really isn't a good defensive player at all. An Abeid-Sissoko-De Jong triumvirate has disaster written all over it.

 

Are you kidding? Abeid would be more than enough to take care of the defensive role, leaving Sissoko and De Jong free to provide some firepower.

 

Are you joking? One defensive midfielder with how poor our team is defensively?

 

It's not like Sissoko is going to be abandoning his defensive duties altogether, he tends to cover back when we don't have possession anyway, as do most of our players for that matter. I don't know why it's suddenly become acceptable to have two small defensive midfielders, neither of who between them could contain the athletic Nzonzi yesterday.